I believe, once we begin to enforce the rules regarding bullying at tonight's meal, that will not happen," said Dumbledore.
"Well, Sir," Harry retorted, "A famous theoretical physicist, Albert Einstein, once said 'Two things are infinite: The universe and human stupidity; and I'm not too sure about the first'(1). No matter how much you... impress... upon the student population that such actions will be harshly treated, there will still be those who will choose the stupid option and ignore you. I, however, will not ignore them."
With a sigh, the Headmaster sat back and said, "Alright, Harry; I think we've covered all the points you've raised. Are you satisfied with what you've heard here?"
Instead of answering immediately, Harry turned to the two girls and non-verbally asked for their views. Hermione, who was still clearly upset, nodded back; as did Daphne when he turned to her.
Turning back to the Headmaster he replied, "So long as there is an immediate major shift towards what we've spoken about, and then that major shift continues, I currently withdraw my wish to be evicted from the magical world."
The Headmaster visibly sighed in relief.
"However, I reserve the right to make such a determination in future," Harry continued. "I will wait to see what happens... especially surrounding the tournament... and will be constantly internally reviewing my decision. There must be radical changes to have occurred before I will remove my desire off the table completely.
"Further, if I do end up deciding to leave the magical world, I expect my wishes to be honoured. It is my choice. And I really don't give a flying toss if the magical world gets all up in arms about how the Boy-Who-Lived would make such a decision. My decision will be my own; not theirs. And I really could care less about the so-called Boy-Who-Lived because he is not me. You can blame the idiots who have, without my authorisation, used my name to sell products for that.
"I'm also supposed to be this great bloody hero who got rid of Voldemort for the magical people. However, not one of them even wrote to me to say thank you. The first letter I ever received from anyone... let alone the magical world... was my Hogwarts acceptance letter. And I had no way to reply to that, anyway."
Harry watched as the Headmaster almost imperceptibly winced.
"If I'm supposed to be their hero, then why was I ignored by them?" Harry asked. "No. They clearly couldn't care less about me. All mouth and no action. Therefore, I can't see them really being upset if I decide to leave."
"Mister Potter," said Professor McGonagall, getting Harry's attention. "Plenty of people wrote to you. No one ever heard back."
Glaring back, Harry replied, "I assure you, Professor; I never received..."
"Harry," the Headmaster interrupted.
Turning to look at the Headmaster with a frown, Harry asked, "Headmaster?"
Clearly uncomfortable and even squirming slightly in his seat, the Headmaster said, "The reason you didn't receive any mail is because I was concerned that some of it would contain harmful potions, charms, portkeys or the like. They represented a great risk to you and your safety. Furthermore, I knew your aunt and uncle would not appreciate being... bothered... by the magical community. As your magical guardian, I made the decision to intercept your mail and have it stored elsewhere until..."
Harry listened first, with dawning comprehension, then mutating to anger. Eventually, he'd heard enough and surged to his feet in rage.
"Jesus bloody Christ, Dumbledore!" he roared as Dumbledore was immediately cut off and the staff visibly flinched back. "Do you have any bloody idea as to the consequences of your actions? It's no wonder the student body out there denigrate me one moment and worship me the next.
"Holy bloody Hell! There'll be kids out there... not to mention their parents and guardians... who wrote to me and never heard a bloody peep out of me back! God damn it; some may have even sent me gifts and they now think I'm a right prick for not even acknowledging them! Including over the past three years. It's no bloody surprise, now, why I'm getting treated the way I do! They fucking hate me!"
Harry grabbed hold of his spiking emotions, not even noticing that documents and trinkets had been sent flying during his rage at the Headmaster by his almost uncontrolled magic. Once he'd managed to get his emotions back into check, he collapsed back into his seat.
"You imbecilic prick!" he moaned. "What have you done?"
No one even dared to reply. Only Hermione first, then Daphne, moved closer to him and hugged him.
"Oh my God!" he sobbed into his hands.
The first to recover of the staff, Professor McGonagall glared at the Headmaster and quietly but firmly demanded, "Albus? Where is Mister Potter's mail?"
Calming himself down, the Headmaster quietly replied, "It's being stored in an unused storeroom here, in the castle. I have not taken the time to go and have a look at it, so I have no idea how much is there. I'm also concerned that some of it may still have those illicit charms, potions, portkeys or the like I mentioned attached to them.
"Therefore, I ask that you not go looking for it, at this time, Mister Potter."
"Fuck you, old man!" Harry snarled back. "I don't know what the laws are in the magical world surrounding intercepting the mail of another; but, in the muggle world, it's an automatic stay in one of Her Majesty's gaols!
"I now take full responsibility and possession of my mail. Any and all mail redirection charms or whatever you have in place concerning me, you will immediately strip away, never to return them... or organise for another to place such upon me and mine. I'll have our two house elves go through it all and separate out anything that's dodgy, and set them aside for the DMLE to deal with. As for the rest, I'm going to need time to go through it all and send out letters of apology to each and every person who sent me something, and explain what happened.
"While your motives for intercepting my mail were just, the method by which you went about it is abhorrent. Once you began to intercept my mail, it fell to you to treat it with respect according to how you believed I'd want it dealt with. And, I assure you, I consider ignoring it a loathsome and despicable act. It's no wonder there are those like Professor Snape who consider me arrogant.
"At the conclusion of this meeting, you will immediately take me to where you've stored my mail. At that time I will use our two house elves to begin the process of sorting it and separating out the letters and packages that are suspect. Then, I'm going to begin the process of going through each and every item and responding to it. I don't care if it's been up to almost thirteen years since the sender sent the letter or package. They deserve a reply; and, they're going to get one; no matter how long it takes me to do so."
When he finally finished his rant and collapsed back in on himself in his seat, Harry let the girls cuddle back into him from either side.
Dumbledore appeared to be getting his own emotions back into check. Once he was calmer, he said, "Harry, I'm truly, truly sorry this has happened. It was my intent to do just as you suggested; but, I managed to put it off until it was too late, and the amount became too large.
"It was then my intent to use the house elves to sort out the... as you put it... suspect packages and letters and see the lot handed over to you when you first arrived here in the beginning of your First Year. But, again, it had slipped my mind."
After a short hesitation he said, "Very well, Harry. At the conclusion of this meeting I will take you to where your mail is stored. I only ask you ensure it is all checked, and bring anything suspect to me, before you handle any of it."
Harry didn't even bother to reply. He took a deep breath of air and said to no one in particular, "I need to get out of here. I need to get some fresh air."
He then stood and said, "I'll come back later. I'm finding the conditions in here, quite stifling, at the moment."
Not even bothering to see if the Headmaster or the rest of the staff acknowledged him; the two girls stood either side and walked out with him. They were headed directly for the main doors of the castle to walk down to sit near the edge of the lake.
Once they were gone, Professor McGonagall staring at the Headmaster, fuming. Once she could, she growled, "How could you, Albus? What other harm have you done to that poor boy?"
"What I've done is..." the Headmaster tried.
Professor McGonagall just barked straight over the top of him. "Don't even think of saying 'It's for the Greater Good', Albus. If it's for your so-called Greater Good to cause harm to that boy, I want no part of it.
"A lot of what is driving that boy out of our world is directly attributed to what you have caused to happen to him. You have meddled in his life long enough. It is high time you made sure his godfather gets his trial and Harry gets to develop a family with him. Because, it's only family that will keep that boy from leaving our world.
"And, if he does end up taking that option, it will become very clear very quickly exactly why he left. I doubt very much you will manage to hold on to any of your positions of power once the dust finally settles."
.
.
.
🍀Visit my site at tiendup for more advanced content...🍀
🍀Read the complete novel in PDF, available at my Store!🍀
https://sunflowersfic.tiendup.com/